Amos 3

1 Hear you this word, O house of Israel, which the Lord has spoken concerning you, and against the whole family whom I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:

2 You especially have I known out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I take vengeance upon you for all your sins.

"You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins."

3 Shall two walk together at all, if they do not know one another?

Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?

4 Will a lion roar out of his thicket if he has no prey? will a [lion's] whelp utter his voice at all out of his lair, if he have taken nothing?

Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?

5 Will a bird fall on the earth without a fowler? will a snare be taken up from the earth without having taken anything?

Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch?

6 Shall the trumpet sound in the city, and the people not be alarmed? shall there be evil in a city which the Lord has not wrought?

Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does disaster happen to a city, unless the LORD has done it?

7 For the Lord God will do nothing, without revealing instruction to his servants the prophets.

Surely the LORD will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.

8 A lion shall roar, and who will not be alarmed? the Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?

The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The LORD has spoken. Who can but prophesy?

9 Proclaim it to the regions amongst the Assyrians, and to the regions of Egypt, and say, Gather yourselves to the mountain of Samaria, and behold many wonderful things in the midst of it, and the oppression that is in it.

Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountain of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them."

10 And she knew not what things would come against her, says the Lord, [even] those that store up wrong and misery in their countries.

"Indeed they do not know to do right," says the LORD, "Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces."

11 Therefore thus says the Lord God; O Tyre, your land shall be made desolate round about [you]; and he shall bring down your strength out of you, and your countries shall be spoiled.

Therefore thus says the LORD: "An adversary will surround the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered."

12 Thus says the Lord; As when a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall be drawn forth the children of Israel who dwell in Samaria in the presence of [a foreign] tribe, and in Damascus.

Thus says the LORD: "As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed."

13 Hear, O you priests, and testify to the house of Jacob, says the Lord God Almighty.

"Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob," says the LORD, the God of hosts.

14 For in the day wherein I shall take vengeance of the sins of Israel upon him, I will also take vengeance on the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be broken down, and they shall fall upon the ground.

"For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.

15 I will crush and strike the turreted-house upon the summer-house; and the ivory-houses shall be destroyed, and many other houses also, says the Lord.

I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end," says the LORD.